6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Commissioner Cardone arrives in a small town in North Italy, where he declares war to a criminal gang specialized in kidnapping of young rich boys; a war that may cost him both his job and his family.
Starring: Enrico Maria Salerno, Lee J. Cobb, Jean Sorel, Luciana Paluzzi, Claudio GoraForeign | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Roberto Infascelli's "The Great Kidnapping" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video. The only bonus feature on the release is an exclusive new program with critic Mike Malloy. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Great Kidnapping arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video.
The release is sourced from a very healthy recent remaster. Even though there are some minor density fluctuations, from start to finish the film boasts a very attractive organic appearance. Delineation, clarity, and depth are very good, though I have to say that if the film was placed on a dual-layer disc, the entire presentation would have been gorgeous. No, I did not encounter any troubling encoding anomalies, but I could tell that in a few areas the visuals could have been even more impressive. I like the color grading job, too. Only during the prologue there are a few seconds where some minor aging has altered the color balance a bit, but the rest looks very convincing (see example in screencapture #6). There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is very good. I noticed a few nicks, but the film still looks very clean. All in all, I really like how good this release turned out. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
Obviously, the non-Italian stars utter their lines in English and were overdubbed in Italian, which is the reason why there is noticeable unevenness. However, the Italian track still could have been remastered. I think that the overall quality of the audio is still perfectly fine, but I want to make it clear that when the current master was prepared, the audio was not meticulously restored. It appears that it was transferred with all of its limitations, some of which are a byproduct of aging.
It is great to see Raro Video bringing classic and cult Italian films to Blu-ray again. When the boutique label is active, the Blu-ray market is a much more exciting place. I know Roberto Infascelli's The Great Kidnapping very well, so I just wanted it to look very good on Blu-ray. It does, and I could not be happier to finally have a quality release of it in my library. The Great Kidnapping is a fine time capsule that has preserved the chaos and paranoia that defined the socio-political climate in Italy during the 1970s. The drama that unfolds in it is set in a small town in Northern Italy, but it is of the exact same kind that routinely rocked Milan and Rome. Only a couple of years after The Great Kidnapping was released, members of the terrorist organization Red Brigades kidnapped and executed Prime Minister Aldo Moro. Raro Video's Blu-ray release is Region-Free. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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